A 34-year-old man with the word "VEGAN" tattooed prominently on his neck faces federal charges that he torched the Sheepskin Factory in Glendale last spring as part of an animal-rights campaign.

The man, now known as Walter Edmund Bond, appeared in federal court Friday in shorts and a faded T-shirt, sitting quietly in handcuffs as he read through documents accusing him of a lone count of using fire or explosives to damage property involved in interstate commerce.

"My reaction was relief, for a moment, that he has been arrested, and I hope that he is punished and punished in such a way so that they set an example for others not to do it," said Louis Livaditis, whose business suffered $500,000 in damage after it was set ablaze early on the morning of April 30. Livaditis was able to reopen his business, which manufactures items such as seat covers and blankets, in a nearby building.

Extras

A message posted on a website linked to the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility, contending it "was done in defense and retaliation for all the innocent animals that have died cruelly at the hands of human oppressors."

The message's author was identified as "ALF Lone Wolf."

The Animal Liberation Front is a shadowy organization that has claimed responsibility for firebombings and other acts of destruction at laboratories, farms and factories.

Past arson conviction

Bond, then known as Walter Edmund Zuehlke, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of arson for a house blaze in Mason City, Iowa, in 1997. According to Iowa Department of Corrections records, he served a little more than three years of the sentence before being released on parole in May 2001.

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Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said it was not clear why Bond changed his name.

Bond remains under investigation in two Utah blazes — a June 5 fire at a leather factory and a July 3 arson at a restaurant that served foie gras — liver from a goose or duck that has been force-fed to fatten it up.

According to a federal arrest affidavit, a security camera captured images of a shadowy figure wearing a dark-hooded, long-sleeved shirt and carrying a backpack outside the Sheepskin Factory about 3:15 a.m. April 30 — just minutes before a massive fire broke out at the building.

The key break in the case, according to court documents, came July 1 when an unidentified informant called a federal agent with a tip that Bond set the Glendale fire.

The day before, Bond had called the informant from a phone at a library in Salt Lake City, according to the affidavit. It was the first contact between the two in a dozen years, and in catching up, Bond was asked what he had been up to, according to the affidavit.

Bond directed the informant to a website detailing the Glendale and leather factory blazes.

On Thursday, the informant met with Bond at an East Colfax Avenue hotel, according to the affidavit, and federal agents listened in as he claimed to use the nickname "Lone Wolf," described the Sheepskin Factory as a "box of matches," and vowed to torch the business again "in a couple of years."

Later in the day, federal agents arrested Bond at a Northglenn home.

"When he got his face tattooed, I just really thought he was a weirdo," said Billie Jo Riley of Northglenn, who said Bond had dropped by her house just before he was arrested.

Bond had been a friend of her husband's, but she shied away from him, she said.

Hearing on Wednesday

Two days before his arrest, he'd stopped by as she and her husband were grilling hamburgers. He ate two — "beef patties," she insisted — then borrowed a bicycle and left.

Bond appeared in federal court Friday afternoon, tattoos covering one side of his face and large swaths of his arms and legs.

He answered "yes" and "no" to a series of questions from U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Watanabe, who scheduled his next hearing for Wednesday.

A group that sympathizes with the Animal Liberation Front said it was too early to know whether Bond is the "Lone Wolf."

"If it is, then obviously we support him," said Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office.

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